Nitrogen trifluoride (NF.sub.3) is an etchant gas having major utility in the processing of semiconductor materials and particularly in cleaning of furnaces and tools in the manufacture of electronic devices.
NF.sub.3 has been recognized as a global warming gas specie by the industrialized world. This in addition to the fact that it is difficult to abate NF.sub.3 efficiently and very effectively, makes the use of NF.sub.3 by the electronics industry problematic.
Previous attempts to abate NF.sub.3 include burning it at high temperatures, which create undesirable nitrogen oxide effluents, reaction of NF.sub.3 with carbon, which generates CF.sub.4, a much stronger global warming gas and may be explosive, or reaction of NF.sub.3 with metal oxides at elevated temperature, which also creates undesirable nitrogen oxide effluents.
Chlorofluorocarbons have been abated by the use of sodium oxalate. Additionally, oxalates have been used to unsaturate fully fluorinated fluorocarbons. See J. Burdeniiuc and R. H. Crabtree, Mineralization of Chlorofluorocarbons and Aromatization of Saturated Fluorocarbons by a Convenient Thermal Process, Science, vol 271, Jan. 19, 1996, pp340-341.
The drawbacks of the prior art abatements of NF.sub.3 are overcome by the present invention which can abate even dilute quantities of NF.sub.3 safely and efficiently without nitrogen oxide byproducts and without danger or explosion, as will be set forth in greater detail below.